TV Stars Recall Storied Careers

The TV stars of yesteryear showed up for a panel at Home Media Expo Wednesday, but their discussion went far beyond DVD, touching on sex, hormones and paparazzi.

Moderated by TVShowsOnDVD.com's Gord Lacey, the panel brought together a sex idol, two cowboys, a former child actor and a “Happy Days” mainstay.

“People still want to see me up in the hayloft in a bikini,” said Charlene Tilton, who played Lucy Ewing Cooper in “Dallas.” She talked about how her daughter watches the series on DVD.

“When the DVDs started coming out, she and her friends would start having ‘Dallas' Friday nights,” Tilton said. “‘Mom, this is better than ‘The O.C.!' she said. I told her I'm acting, don't try that at home.”

Josie Davis, who played Sarah Powell on “Charles in Charge,” said she was looking forward to having all of the series on DVD. But she added she has mixed feelings looking back at herself in the show.

“It's so different when you're 12,” she said. “It was like a family, but we went through puberty during that time. It was difficult to have all those hormones going and trying to be an adult. We have these memories of seeing these people five times a week. You form a bond with people that even families don't have.

“I felt like a geek back then, but I ended up reaching out to a lot of other geeks.”

Peter Brown, 72, known for his work in “Loredo” and “Lawman,” quipped, “You sure don't look 12.”

“You don't either, sir,” she replied.

Don Most of “Happy Days” fame said, “I'm just glad [it's on DVD] for people to see it.”

Tilton said she loved DVD for the fact you could catch up on TV shows you might have otherwise missed.

“I'm a huge ‘Friends' fan,” Davis added. “I had to have the damn things on DVD.”

Robert Fuller, who starred in the 1960s Western series “Laramie” and “Wagon Train,” and the 1970s medical drama “Emergency!” reminisced about his work. “I did all my own stunts …. [and] I get calls from people saying ‘Because of you I'm a doctor. Because of you I'm a paramedic,’ he said.

Brown added, “I did a lot of my own stunt work until I got smart. I stopped doing everything except the bar fights.”

Tilton joked, “I did all my own stunts: cheerleading … rolling.”

The TV stars said they were mostly in touch with people they worked with on their most famous shows.

“I'm still in touch with everyone from the show,” Most said. “I saw Ron Howard a few weeks ago. We played some golf together …. We were part of a family, and I know it sounds clich?.”

“I'm very, very fortunate to have done a series where everyone got along and nobody stepped on anyone's toes,” Fuller added.

The stars said the paparazzi back in their days were fans.

“It wasn't that bad back then,” Most said. “You gave them a couple shots, then they let you go.”